


Warmth

by SharkGirl



Series: Home [23]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animal Hybrids, Animal Hybrid AU, Bullying, Canon parallels, Cute, M/M, Past Fic, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 11:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8142563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: Tsukishima Kei was an Exotic.They were rare.  They were priceless.  They were failures.





	

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TSUKKI!!
> 
> Yay! I finally got around to writing the TsukkiYama!! It's a past fic, so I'm sorry they're kids in this, but I promise we'll get to see them grown up in a later work ^^
> 
> I can't remember who suggested to me that Tsukishima be a reptile (I believe they said snake, though) Let me know and I'll mention you! 
> 
> Unbeta'd. Please enjoy!

Tsukishima Kei was an Exotic.

They were rare.  They were priceless.  They were failures.

Well, perhaps ‘failure’ wasn’t the proper term.  But what else would one call a hybrid that ceased being produced after one or two generations?

Tsukishima’s breed was especially rare, as the splicing of warm-blooded and cold-blooded creatures was extremely difficult and often resulted in the experiment’s death.

He was strong, though.  And the only one of his kind to live beyond infancy.

When Tsukishima was seven years old, he was purchased by an extremely wealthy man.  He didn’t know his name and never actually got to meet him in person, but one afternoon, between his daily physical examination and dinner, he was escorted off of the Institution’s property and brought to what his chaperone had called ‘The Sanctuary.’

As it turned out, the giant, sprawling estate was home to an abundance of hybrids.  All exotic and all rare.

But even in this place, with its white eagles and other endangered species, there were no other reptiles.

He was still alone.

Tsukishima was a komodo dragon, not that anyone would find him advertising himself as such.  Then again, he didn’t really speak to the other hybrids who shared his home.  He’d been given his own room in the mansion and kept to himself.

He had extremely good vision, being able to see things up to 300 meters away.  But, because of the strain it caused on his eyes, he needed glasses from an early age – another reason he considered himself a failed experiment.

Their master, though he never showed his face or greeted them directly, seemed to care for all of his pets.

Pets, Tsukishima reminded himself, even as he unwrapped his presents on his eighth "birthday" – two large, realistic-looking dinosaur models, a sleek white mp3 player and matching headphones.

Still, despite never meeting the source of the faceless generosity, Tsukishima couldn’t say he was unhappy with his living arrangement.  He had a soft bed, a space heater for his room, a spot in the garden to bask in the warm sun, and all the strawberry shortcake he could eat – he’d accidentally let on to one of the workers who delivered their food that he liked it and suddenly he was given double portions when it came up in the rotation.

Yes, his life wasn’t too bad.  It was monotonous and, if there was on thing Tsukishima understood, it was a routine.  It was comfortable.

So, one could imagine how jarring it was when something suddenly changed, disrupting his beloved day-to-day.

This particular wrench in the works came in the form of a small, shivering rabbit.

Tsukishima was ten years old, completely used to his home and schedule.  He’d grabbed his headphones and mp3 player and headed down to his favorite rock in the garden.  It was beside a koi pond and, in the heat of midday, the light reflected off of the water and provided additional rays to warm his cold blood.

But, when he made it to the giant sandstone, he found three boys, a little older than him, gathered around something on the rock's other side.  He’d planned on ignoring them and going about his basking, but he heard one of them say something in a taunting voice and then watched as the boy lifted a stick above his head, ready to strike.

“What are you doing?” he asked and they jumped, spinning around to face him, obviously startled.

“Oh, Tsukishima,” one of them – he hadn’t bothered to learn their names – said, placing a hand over his heart and breathing out a relieved sigh. “Shoot, you scared us, man.”  He was heavyset, some sort of large mammal hybrid, though his ears made it difficult to discern what species.

“He’s always creeping around,” another said. He was a jackal and, living up to expectations, took whatever he could get, whenever he could get it.  Tsukishima had seen him stealing off of the plates of leftovers in the hallway on more than one occasion.

“Maybe he wants in,” the boy with the stick suggested.  He was the worst of them, in Tsukishima’s humble opinion.  He didn’t know much about him other than the fact that their caretakers were always scolding him for one thing or another.  “Want first dibs?” Stick-boy asked with a grin. “Fresh meat.” He stepped to the side and revealed a cowering creature.

He was a boy, probably around Tsukishima’s age, but it was hard to tell with how he was curled up on himself.  He had two long, dark brown ears sticking out of similarly color hair.

“M-Meat?” The boy looked up and Tsukishima raised his brows.  He had snot dripping from his reddened nose and tear tracks down his freckled cheeks.  They’d clearly been tormenting him.

“Yeah, you better watch out, Bunny.” Stick-boy poked him in the chest. “Tsukishima might just gobble up a runt like you.”

“Haha, yeah,” the heavyset one joined in. “Heard his bite’s venomous.”

The shaking rabbit hybrid turned wide, hazel eyes up toward Tsukishima, his lower lip quivering.

“That’s right.” Tsukishima drew his brows down. “So, watch it.” He moved closer to the boy with the stick, causing him to take a step back and his sneer to droop.  He glanced over at the shivering rabbit and then narrowed his eyes at them. “Pathetic.”

“Wh-Who’s pathetic?” the boy barked, having recovered from the shock of Tsukishima’s sudden looming presence.

“Yeah!” the jackal added, faltering a bit as Tsukishima turned his eyes on him. “Y-You’re the pathetic one…F-Four-eyes!” He shouted.

“Am I?” Tsukishima cocked his head to the side, swishing his long tail and flashing his teeth.  They weren’t overly sharp, but a bit more pointed than the average hybrid's.  He watched as the three swallowed and then blurted out made-up excuses before running off.

“Cold-blooded freak!” one called over his shoulder as they disappeared around the corner.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and went about his business.  The sandstone was pleasantly hot, stinging the palms of his hands a bit as he crawled up onto it.  He’d missed several precious minutes of basking because of those idiots, but considering there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, he figured he could make up for it.

Ah, the heat seeped into his bones, the warm rays of the sun shining down nearly making him forget about the awful encounter he’d just had with his fellow pets.  Until…

“U-Um…”

He cracked an eye open and peered over at the rabbit hybrid.  He was standing up now, his long ears were pulled back and the snot and tears on his face had been wiped away.

“What?” Tsukishima asked, his thumb hovering over the play button on his mp3 player.

“Th-Thank you…f-for s-s-saving-”

“They were blocking the sun,” he said. “And I prefer to bask alone.”

“Oh,” the rabbit replied, but, instead of leaving, he took a seat beside the pond.

Tsukishima sighed, but didn’t ask him to leave. The heat was soothing and leaving him far too relaxed to mind if one little rabbit was sitting nearby.

“My name is Tadashi, by the way,” the boy said, staring into the water. “Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

“Tsukishima Kei,” he said, letting his eye slip closed.

Suddenly, he was in the shade, a shiver making its way through his body.  He opened his eyes and saw Yamaguchi standing above him, looking down.

“You’re in my sun.”

“Oh, sorry!” he squeaked and jumped to the side. “You need its heat, right?” he asked, eyes wide and curious. “They said you were cold-blooded.”

“I do and I am.”

“I see…”

“Is there a reason you’re still here?” Tsukishima groaned.  No matter how delightfully warm the sun’s rays were, they didn’t distract him from how annoying this freckled rabbit hybrid was being at the moment.

“I just…um…”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and sat up.

“Yamaguchi, was it?” he asked and the boy nodded. “You’re new here?”

“Y-Yes,” he stammered. “I was the last of my litter and-”

“The runt?” Tsukishima offered and Yamaguchi nodded, looking at his feet.

“I'm also the only English Spot.”

“English…what?”

“English Spot,” Yamaguchi repeated. “It’s the type of rabbit I am and the reason I…” he trailed off, raising a hand to his freckled cheek.

“Is that why they were teasing you?” Tsukishima asked, eyeing the small flecks of light brown against his paler skin.

“Yes,” he answered. “I mean, I’m used to it, but they, um, well, I’m,” he swallowed. “I’m not used to dealing with predators, so…”

“Predators?” He raised an eyebrow.  He’d never really thought about hybrids as predator and prey.  Then again, he didn’t do much thinking about other hybrids at all.  “You know I’m one, too, right?” he began, leaning closer and flashing his pointed teeth. “A predator, that is.”

“Ah, y-yeah, so they s-said.” Yamaguchi looked away, but didn’t leave. “Is it, um…is it true that you’re v-venomous?” He lifted his head, looking more curious than frightened.

Tsukishima stifled a snicker. “I’m not sure. I’ve never bitten anyone.”

“Oh…” Yamaguchi looked almost disappointed, but that couldn’t be right.

“Want to find out?” he offered and Yamaguchi’s eyes went impossibly wide.  He lifted his hands and looked anywhere but at Tsukishima.

“Uh, no, that’s okay, um…I just thought it was kinda…uh…cool and you’re cool, so-”

“You think I’m cool?” Tsukishima blinked, finally removing his headphones, giving up on ever getting to listen to his music during this basking session.

“Yeah, you scared off those bullies and…” Yamaguchi trailed off, a small smile on his lips. “I just thought…I wish I could be cool like that.”

Tsukishima didn’t know if it was possible for cold-blooded hybrids such as himself to blush, but his cheeks certainly felt warm and not because of the sun shining down on them.

“Do you think we could be friends?” Yamaguchi continued, obviously unaware of the flattered embarrassment he’d just caused the other to feel.  “I mean, if that’s okay with you and-”

“Fine,” Tsukishima said, recovering from whatever _that_ was and just wanting the other to be quiet.

“Really?!” The rabbit asked, his cheeks pink and eyes sparkling.

“Just don’t be so loud…” He winced.

“Oh, sorry!”

“And let me finish basking.”

“Right.” Yamaguchi nodded and crawled onto the rock beside him.

“Yamaguchi, what are you doing?”

“Basking,” he answered like it was obvious. “This rock is pretty warm.”

Tsukishima wanted to reply, stating that was the whole point, but he stopped when he felt the smaller boy’s body pressing up against his.  The first thing he noticed was how quickly Yamaguchi’s heart was beating – which probably had something to do with him being a rabbit – but then he felt it, how unbelievably warm he was, like a living hot water bottle.

“Thanks for saving me, Tsukki,” he said, voice quiet.

“Yeah, don’t mention it—” he paused. “ _Tsukki?_ ”

“A nickname. Yours is kinda hard to say,” Yamaguchi admitted. “Do you mind?”

Tsukishima thought about it.  He’d never been forced to interact with any other hybrids before.  He’d never _had_ to interact with anyone, really, save for the scientists that poked and prodded him back at the institution and the caretakers at The Sanctuary – and, of course, the riffraff he’d put in their place earlier.

But there was something different about that rabbit.  He was less annoying than the others, if only slightly.

And Yamaguchi _was_ warm.

“I don’t mind.”

Yamaguchi smiled then, his freckles more pronounced in the bright midday sun.

“Thanks, Tsukki.”

Something shivery and strange bubbled up in his chest, but Tsukishima pushed it down. He just wanted to bask in the warmth – whatever the source.

**Author's Note:**

> Just know that we'll revisit these two in the present (age 21) ^^ but I wanted to share this past fic first.
> 
> Tsukishima: [Komodo Dragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon)  
> Yamaguchi: [English Spot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Spot)
> 
> I almost forgot! We'll learn more about what Tsukishima looks like in Yamaguchi's POV chapter. (Scales and such...he's not completely covered in them, but he has a few here and there)
> 
> Let me know what you think and hit me up on tumblr [@jubesy](http://jubesy.tumblr.com)!


End file.
